Theatre Nerd meets Computer Geek

I spent the better part of two days deciding upon a tagline for this blog, but I think "A frustrated artist's journey through software design." is about as accurately as I could hope to describe my career. Software design has been my vocation for nearly 30 years, and a passion for even longer than that. But it's only over the last decade that I've come to truly appreciate when and where the seeds of that passion were first planted, and to rediscover the other crops that were neglected and left to fallow in their favor.

Acting was my first love. When I was very young my father was the Program Director at a local television station in Bangor, ME and was responsible for producing those awful local TV ads we all know and love. He needed kids for several spots, and I was cute (back then) and would work for the low, low price of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. By the time I was seven years-old I had been in several commercials, and I was hooked. I had already discovered the joy of losing oneself in a character, even if the depths of that character were limited to, "Oh boy, I love this slice of bread!"

That early spark led to countless school productions and summer theatre camps throughout my childhood. My parents were enthusiastic and supportive, given that they were both heavily involved in the community theatre scene. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by (and practically raised by) theatre artists from an early age. I even learned how to play poker from my father's cast of The Odd Couple. Which, come to think of it, may explain why I am a terrible poker player. But most importantly, I was gifted a space in which to explore and create without the boundaries imposed by institutional education.

I was around 14 when we got our first computer. A beloved RadioShack TRS-80. I was immediately fascinated by the mysterious inner workings of this machine, and the fact that, given enough creativity and effort, you could make it do almost anything you could imagine. The possibilities seemed endless, and I spent hours of gleeful trial and error exploring their limits. Little did I realize at the time that I was scratching the same itch that theatre had been scratching. I had discovered another avenue by which I could explore and create bounded only by the limits of my imagination.

By that time though, theatre had become my emotional lifeline. My space to be free and connect with like-minded peers. I continued to dabble in programming, but I didn't talk about it much. After all, I was a Theatre Nerd, not a Computer Geek. The reconciliation of that artificial (and misguided) dichotomy is what I'll explore here.

I hope you'll find the journey as compelling and affirming as I have over the past 30 years.